• bibliophile •

Notes: Here is a word that should be in the vocabularies of all who read this, for I believe we all are bibliophiles. If you get tired of writing this word, you may leave off the final E: bibliophil, or, if you love the word so much you want to spend just a little more time with it, you may add -ist: bibliophilist. All bibliophiles suffer from bibliophily even bibliopoles. Do you avoid reading? The antonym of today's word is bibliophobe.

In Play: Any dedicated reader may be called a bibliophile: "Rita Book would have to be a real bibliophile to make her way through the entirety of War and Peace." Of course, collecting a lot of books doesn't make you a bibliophile: "Lacie Curtain isn't a bibliophile; she just thinks books add a je ne se quoi to her decor."

Word History: Today's Good Word came to us via Latin from French bibliophile, containing the root of Greek biblion "book" + philos "friend". Biblion was borrowed by the Greeks from Egyptian byblos "papyrus". This word is somehow related to Byblos, the Phoenician port whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece. Of course, the name of the book which forms the basis of Christianity is the Bible, originally thought of as "THE book", as the capitalization indicates. The most notable use of philos is in the name Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, from phil- + adelpheos "brother". Of course, it may be found in the names for many things we like (see alphaDictionary's List of Philias). (We owe a debt of gratitude to Kaylin Jury, a bibliophile at only the age of nine, for suggesting today's Good Word.)

And in the lefthand corner, in the dark trunks, standing six feet two inches tall, weighing 220 pounds, with thirty-two wins, two draws, and two losses, the heavy weight contendah, "BIB-LEE-O-PHOOOOOOB!!!" (Mixed boos, hisses, and applause)

bibliophobe: a person who fears and distrusts books.

bibliophobia

1: bibliophobia: a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of books, despite conscious understanding by the phobic individual and reassurance by others that there is no danger.

You might add my first name, Philip, to the list of Philias. Philip is Greek for "lover of horses". Philia is one of the Greek words for love. It is not agape, eros, or storge. Agape is pretty much a coined word for "self giving love". It is the basis of the Christian faith. Agape was called charity in English, but the definition of charity has changed over the years and it no longer means the same as agape. See 1Cor:13 in the KJV for the old use of charity. Charity has become almost synonymous with the alms giving. Alms giving may be considered a duty and not an act of love. I believe charity should be motivated by agape, else it is just a way to get rid of junk you don’t want anymore.